In a Bottle
by SecretTwin
Summary: Tony Stark set a message adrift in space with no hope of ever being found, with little time and resources left on his side. His message was broadcast on every known frequency in the galaxy. Someone was bound to receive it.


Transcript of a message recovered from deep space, broadcasted on all frequencies. Excerpt from Iron Man: A Biography, Chapter 12: Miss Potts.

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Stark found himself stranded on the planet Titan with a damaged suit unfit for space travel, and one other companion. Biographers and historians have speculated what their journey was like as they travelled together. Mr. Stark has never released the details of his journey to the public.

A single transcript recovered from deep space gave some insight.

[Start of transcript]

_Captain's log._

_Yeah, see if Cap hears this, he's gonna lose it. Don't get your panties in a twist Rogers, you're still Captain of a whole country. No need to get your ego crushed. I'm just captain of Quill's little scrap heap. You're safe._

_This is pointless, you do realize that? No one's going to find this. And you know me, I'm not the... introspective type. Not like Bruce. God I miss the green bastard._

_But seriously, if this message does make it - probably won't, we're out of options here._

_This is for you, Pep. Always for you. __I don't even know... no. I know. I just know you're still here._

_This is me... introspecting a bit. Maybe?_

_Remember what I told you about, at the park? Last night I dreamed about him again._

_I don't sleep much these days, well not days really. Space really fucks up your sleep patterns. I'd rather not sleep at all, then finally crash into a blank coma after three days. _

_Oh come on. Don't give me that look. Terminator's giving me the death glare. You'd love her Pep.*_

_She's gone a week without a nap. I try to stay up with her, make repairs, navigate. You'd have a hay-day trying to get her to do something she doesn't want to do. We make one crimefighting duo though, don't we? Yep. She's trying to make me dead with her mind. One time I woke up with a blanket on my shoulders. How could that have happened I wonder? _

_This is our journey. Pretty mundane I know. Sorry I can't tell you about my adventures in space._

_Instead you get to hear about my dreams. _

_We did the calculations, triple checked them. Not enough fuel, navigation busted, too far out of reach. And I'm not... modified - won't make it._

_Food and water ran out four days ago, oxygen'll run out tomorrow. That'll be it._

_Nothing much we can do now at this point._

_You know that feeling, when you're dreaming, that you know it can't be real, but you just go along with it anyway because it just makes sense in whatever world you're in? Or maybe you know you're just dreaming and you don't care._

_I don't really remember them. It makes sense why people keep journals about them, but you're not going to find some profound meaning in what you dream. Sometimes you just have to pee._

_He was older in this one - than before - the last time. Right, I didn't tell you. I just saw you holding him. A little baby. You were carrying him to me so I could see, and I remember you said, What do you think? And I just kind of looked at you, then at that little kid, like, Wow, we made a damn good kid. And I just remember, instinctively, that his name was Morgan. I don't know how I knew, I just did. It felt right._

_He was older this time. He had all this curly dark hair and was squirming 'cause I must have been holding him wrong. He wanted down, but you were right there. It was going to be okay._

_He sort of waddled over to you, crying in this high voice, and you bent down and picked him up. You had this smile, Pep, like... so wide and proud and you looked at him like he was the entire world._

_I miss that. _

_Stupid. It was just a little thing. You picked him up is all. We were good parents._

_ He seemed... happy, is what I mean. With you. At least you got to see his face._

_I read about, how, in dreams, the faces you see are ones you've seen before. All of them. Even dreaming about people you think you've never met. You just put a face you've seen before on a character your brain dreams up._

_And they keep going. Dreams. They just follow whatever path your brain is laying out for them, memories changing shape and reconfiguring._

_Then he was even older. He thought he was anyway. That age, you know? When they think they're... they're ready for the world._

_It was still Morgan, but I saw his face this time. I was angry at him, he'd done something he shouldn't have and he should have known better. _

_I should have known better. I should have..._

_It was him, in my dream. _

[Transcript cuts out for a minute and seventeen seconds.]

_It's stupid... I mean, it doesn't matter. To be upset about something I never had, you know?_

_I just got too close Pep. He needed help, needed me. And I just... My fault._

_So maybe it's better that... he'll never be. I mean you know - my old man, and - I'm just not cut out for it if I can't even protect him._

_So, I'm sorry Ms. Potts, that I couldn't give you that._

[End of Transcript]

Tony Stark and Pepper Potts married a month after his recovery. The ceremony was private with exception of the original Avengers. His best men were Colonel James Rhodes, Dr. Bruce Banner, and Happy Hogan. He refused to have groomsmen because, "all the good men in [his] life were the best men [he] knew."

The reception was open to the public. Every Avenger and member of SHIELD attended, along with various individuals who received invitation by personal favor. Including an elderly Fed-Ex delivery man, a dollar store clerk who gave the couple a discount on 2% milk, and two young students from Midtown High.

Morgan Stark was born one year later.

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*Eyewitness accounts from other Avengers and one foul mouthed raccoon confirm that Stark's sole companion (Terminator) was in fact the Mad Titan's adopted daughter Nebula.

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A mixture of angst and a happy ending that I desperately needed to write after too long of anxiously worrying about Endgame. I wanted to expand the message he sent to Pepper in the trailer.

What did you think? Comments are always appreciated.


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